Word: formalisms
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...1800s, there was a certain logic--and a cool distance--to the formal calling card. Those who were part of, or sought a place among, the social élite would deliver a card with their name engraved on it to someone's home to request a visit. But now that you can IM, e-mail or text pretty much anyone immediately, the Victorian practice seems laughably outmoded, right? Not so, according to a growing number of enthusiasts reviving the old-fashioned social-networking tool. "Is it technology fatigue? A colorful way of branding yourself? We're not sure," says Peter...
...road deaths have proved especially infuriating to Iraqis while their government is engaged in talks to establish the long-term legal status of U.S. troops and contractors operating in their country. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was so outraged by the shooting that last month he ordered a formal court inquiry into the incident. Should the Iraqi judge assigned to the case decide to summon as witnesses the American soldiers involved, he will pose a direct challenge to the current legal status of actions carried out by U.S. troops in the country. Perhaps even more critical at this stage...
...airport police station to meet with American officers, identified by Mohammed as Brigadier General Robin Swan, the deputy commanding general for multinational forces in Baghdad, and a "Lieut. Colonel Lather." According to Mohammed, the military offered each family $10,000, but the families refused the money, demanding a formal letter of apology first. "The lieut. colonel kept saying he was sorry for the incident. They said it was a very big tragedy. But they never said they were wrong or they had made a mistake," says Mohammed. "They never gave a reason for why they were apologizing." The U.S. military...
...chance, but only for about a week. "If there can be some movement and if a resolution can be found, that's still an open door," she said. The spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, Tahsin al-Sheikhli, in the meantime, said Iraqi sports unions would be filing a formal complaint against the IOC for its decision. "This was the only time that Iraqis would get to gather and bring the name of Iraq to a real international competition," says Abu Haider. "It would have been the only breath of air Iraqi athletes...
...course. The brutal force of the combatants, especially those led by Karadzic and Mladic, made a mockery of feckless attempts by Europeans to broker peace. The circumstances of Karadzic's arrest, however tragically late, demonstrate far better the kind of benevolent power the E.U. can exert. Even if formal enlargement of the Union appears blocked for now, Karadzic's detention shows that in Serbia, the prospect of deeper ties to the West now outweighs the simpler lure of nationalism...